Coil spider



United States Patent Inventors .lohn P.Sutclifl'e [56] References Cited Lakewood; UNITED STATES PATENTS l \l 2,743,098 4/1956 Berquist 263/47X QJ J 1969 2,834,589 5/1958 King 263/47 z 1970 3,l88,067 6/1965 Whitten 263/47x Assignee Lee Wilson Engineering Company, lnc. m n J0hn J- Cam y Cleveland, Ohio Art0rneyBosworth, Sessions, Herrstrom and Cain a corporation of Ohio E ABSTRACT: A hollow spider of generally triangular cross aims rawmg section for use in handling coils of wire and the like. The U.S.Cl 263/47 spider comprises three substantially identical longitudinal lnt.Cl. F27d 5/00 staves having side panels angularly disposed with respect to Field of Search 263/47, each other and with the side panels of adjacent staves secured 47A, 49; 266/2 to each other to form a column.

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i 1 i 5 i v c 2, 1 1- -9-=----4- 1 2 1 2 COIL SPIDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to spiders for handling coils of wire or the like and more particularly to a hollow spider for use in the annealing of such coils.

Various devices have been provided heretofore for holding coils of wire during annealing but none of these devices has been entirely satisfactory. Frequently, these devices did not retain their shape during use but twisted or bent inwardly making removal of the coils extremely difficult. It has been proposed to overcome these difficulties by constructing a spider from a plurality of U-shaped staves welded to a hollow cylinder in such a fashion that the spider is provided with a somewhat triangular shaped cross section. Such devices are expensive to produce because of the number of welds that must be made to insure rigidity of the device. Each leg of the U-shaped staves must be welded throughout its length to the cylinder thereby necessitating six separate welding operations and materially increasing the cost of the spider.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved spider for handling coils of wire and the like. A further object of this invention is to provide a coil spider of improved resistance to bending or other distortion. Another object of this invention is to provide a spider of simple construction and ease of manufacture for use in annealing coils of wire or the like.

This invention contemplates a spider comprising a generally triangular hollow column portion which is formed of three substantially identical longitudinally extending staves of angular cross section. The side panels of each stave are substantially equal in length and width and form'an interior angle at their juncture of more than about 30 but less than about 100. A perforated top and bottom plate are provided at each end of the spider portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THEDRAWINGS FIG. I is an elevational view of one embodiment of the spider of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. I,

and 7 FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the spider of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT I Referring now to the drawings, reference numeral 10 denotes the spider of this invention. The spider I is provided with a base plate or bottom portion 11 having a central opening 12 therein. The spider I0 is formedfrom three angular in cross section, longitudinally extending staves I3 welded or otherwise affixed to the bottom plate 11. The angle a, measured on the inside of the spider (see FIG. 3), between the two side panels 14 and 14' forming a stave 13 is preferably more than about 30 but less than about 100". In the illustrated embodiment the angle a is 90. In no case should the angle a be exactly 60 because this would resultin'there being no angle between the adjacent staves at welds I5. It has been found that by so limiting the angle between the side panels 14 and 14' of the staves 13 the resistance of the spider to bending or distortion during use is greatly increased. The width of the panels 14 and I4 decreases from the bottom of the spider near the base plate 11 to the other end of the spider so that when the staves are joined together there will be a slight taper from the bottom of the spider to the top.

In order to fonn the spider 10, each of the three staves I3 is welded or otherwise bonded at the edges of its side panels 14 and 14' to the adjacent edges of the side panels of the adjacent staves, as at 15, thereby forming a generally triangularly shaped spider. To provide additional rigidity to the spider I0,

a plurality of gusset plates 16 are secured on the inside of the staves 13. In the preferred embodiment a gusset plate 16 is secured to each stave and is substantially triangular in configuration in order that an opening 17 will be provided between the three gusset plates (see FIG. 3). As illustrated three sets of gusset plates 16 are provided (see FIG. 1). Additional or fewer sets of gusset plates 16 may be utilized if desired.

To provide further rigidity to, and to facilitate handling of, the spider 10 a top plate 17 is secured as by welding at the upper ends 18 of the staves I3. The top plate 17 (FIGS. 1 and 4) is provided with a central opening 20, the function of which will be hereinafter explained.

In order to insure free flow of annealing atmosphere through and around the coils 24, indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 1, the staves 13 are provided with a plurality of openings 21 which in the illustrated embodiment are obtained by relieving the side panels 14 and 14' of adjacent staves. Rather than providing the circulation openings 21 at the edges of the side panels 14 and 14' they may be cut in other' portions of the staves 13. The movement of heated atmosphere into and out of the spider l0 proceeds through the opening 12 in the center of the bottom plate, the openings 17 formed by the gusset plates 16, the side openings 21 and the opening 20 in the top plate. Additional flow may be provided for by reducing the size of each of the gusset plates 16 at the point nearest the juncture of the side panels 14 and 14 of each stave thereby providing openings 22 (FIG. 3) between the side panels 14' and I4 and the gusset plates 16. Additional openings 23 at the three comers of the top plate 17 may also be provided to facilitate assembly and improve circulation of the heated atmosphere through the spider 10.

In order to support the coils of wire 24 and facilitate removal thereof from the spider a stripper plate 25 (FIG. I) rests on the projecting edge portion 11' of plate II. The stripper plate 25 is ring shaped in configuration and is removably positioned on the base plate 11. After plate 25 is properly located the coils 24 are stacked on the stripper plate 25 in the manner shown in FIG. 1 in phantom lines. Only a portion of a load of coils has been so illustrated. After the coils 24 are properly positioned the conventional furnace hood is placed over the spider l0 and its load of coils 24 and heated atmosphere is circulated within the. hoodand around and through the spider 10 in order thatthe coils 24 may be properly heated in manner well known to those skilled in the art.

It can claim: seen from the foregoing that the spider 10 of this invention is simple to manufacture, requiring only 3 welding operations rather than the 6 or more required of the prior art devices. Furthermore, this device, having a substantially triangular configuration with each sidewall of the triangle formed of two angularly disposed panels, is very rigid and presents great resistance to distortion under high temperature service conditions. It should be understood that various modifications may be made in this invention without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

I. A spider for use in handling coils of wire and the like comprising a generally triangular hollow column portion comprising three substantially identical longitudinally extending staves, each stave having an angular cross section and two side panels of substantially equal length and width forming an interior angle at their juncture of more than about 30 but less than about the side panels of said staves being joined to the side panels of adjacent staves, perforate top and bottom plates for said column portion, and triangular shaped gusset plates affixed to said staves, said gusset plates on adjacent staves being in the same horizontal plane and defining a central opening therebetween.

2. A spider according to claim 1 wherein said gusset plates are spaced from the juncture of the panel walls of said staves providing an opening between said plates and said staves.

3. A spider according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of gusset plates are provided at spaced locations on the interior of said column portion.

rality of substantially triangular shaped gusset' plates affix cd to each of said staves, said gusset plates on adjacent staves being in substantially the same horizontal plane and'defining a central opening therebetween, and perforate top and bottom plates for said column portion. 

